Pere Egbi, the former Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) housemate, has weighed in on Femi Branch’s claims about cinemas promoting certain movies over others.
Branch recently alleged that some cinema staff wear merchandise to advertise specific films, rather than remaining neutral.
On Tuesday, Egbi took to Instagram to share his own experience, revealing that he “lost over N150 million due to unfair practices”.
The reality star recounted how his film ‘The Silent Intruder’ was affected by alleged cinema favoritism.
He said despite spending N200 million — pre-production to post-production — the film was given poor screen times and was allegedly hidden by cinemas.
Pere said the film only made N53 million in cinemas. He said the financial losses forced him to return to America to work and pay off his debts.
He expressed frustration that despite the challenges he faced, other films that premiered alongside his were already streaming on platforms like Netflix and Prime Video.
“Dear Femi Branch, I came across your video, and I want to say thank you for speaking out on this issue. Every single thing you said is pure facts. Honestly, I was planning to wait until the end of January 2025 before making any moves, but at this point, I’m saying, lets go,” he wrote.
“This nonsense some cinemas do-hiding films, Poor screen times-it happened to The Silent Intruder, my film. I spent over 150 million naira of my personal funds just on production, borrowed another 11 million naira from a friend in London, and still ended up being shown shege by cinemas.
“Imagine spending over 200 million naira (pre-production to post-production), and the film only made 53 million naira in cinemas.
“Out of that, I personally got just 8 million naira. It’s been almost 11 months since its release, and I’ve seen no Netflix or Prime Video deal.
“Meanwhile, films that premiered alongside mine are already streaming. Because of all this mess, I had to leave Nigeria and return to America to work, just so l can pay back the kind-hearted woman who lent me the money.
“At this point, I don’t care about being blacklisted. If nothing comes through by the end of January, I’l release the film on YouTube myself. Enough is enough.”
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